Green party's Natalie Bennett says it should NOT be a crime to join ISIS | Daily Mail Online It should NOT be a crime to join ISIS, says Green party leader who does not want to punish people for what they think Natalie Bennett insists it should not be illegal to join any organisation Stresses that inciting violence or supporting violence should be illegal ISIS was banned by the UK last summer after rise in extremists attacks Government warns of 'very significant risk' of an ISIS-inspired attack Greens have seen a surge in membership to overtake Ukip and Lib Dems But few people know what their policies are with 4 months until the election Green Party | Leaders' Debates announced - Green Party statement Leaders' Debates announced - Green Party statement Leaders' Debates announced - Green Party statement 23 January 2015 Leaders' Debates - Green Party statement * Green Party: The broadcasters have recognised that the future of British politics does not need to look like the politics of the past The Green Party has welcomed the broadcasters’ revised proposals for the Leaders’ Debates and looks forward to taking part in the Debates, which have the potential to fundamentally reshape British politics during the official election campaign and beyond.

By monitoring the “electoral landscape” and “taking into account … the expressions of public support for the debates to go ahead and for a wider range of parties to be included in the debates”, the broadcasters have recognised that the future of British politics does not need to look like the politics of the past. Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: “The decision to include the Greens in two debates is an acceptance by the broadcasters that we now are in an age of multi-party politics. “This groundbreaking decision serves the interests of both the electorate and British democracy. Our membership and polling surge demonstrates that when people hear about Green Party values and policies many embrace them. The political landscape is fracturing and fewer and fewer people want the business-as-usual politics offered by the traditional Westminster parties. This is the Green Spring. “The fresh proposals means that Green Party policies that can bring real change to Britain - from bringing the railways back into public hands to a £10 minimum wage by 2020 to zero university tuition fees – will now be heard far more widely. “The Green Party would like to thank everyone who contributed to the tremendous #InviteTheGreens campaign that I am sure had an impact on this outcome.

The lifeblood of the Green Party is its grassroots support and today’s decision is a recognition of all their tireless work and activism." The decision to include the Greens follows hot on the heels of a remarkable ‘Green surge’ that has seen the Party’s membership rise at an unprecedented rate and outstrip that of the Liberal Democrats and Ukip. The Green Party, which has polled on double digits twice this week with different pollsters, is polling at its highest levels ahead of a General Election for decades. The Green Party is committed to standing in at least 75% of seats which means that 50% more people will have the opportunity to vote Green on May 7th 2015 than were able to do so at the 2010 General Election. Green Party | Leaders’ Debates statement Leaders’ Debates statement Leaders’ Debates statement 22 January 2015 REACTING to the reports (1) that the broadcasters have put forward new proposals for the TV election debates which would include the Greens, Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: “We warmly welcome the broadcasters’ reported decision to include the Greens.

It is a recognition that the politics of the future does not have to look like the politics of the past. The broadcasters have joined the age of multi-party politics. “It is a decision that serves the interests of both the electorate and British democracy. Our membership and polling surge demonstrates that when people hear about Green Party values and policies many embrace them. The political landscape is fracturing and fewer and fewer people want the business-as-usual politics offered by the traditional Westminster parties. This is the Green Spring. “The broadcasters much-needed re-think means that our policies that can bring real change to Britain - from bringing the railways back in to public hands to a £10 minimum wage by 2020 to zero university tuition fees – will now be heard far more widely “The Green Party would like to thank everyone who contributed to the tremendous #InviteTheGreens campaign that I am sure had an impact on this outcome." The decision to include the Greens follows hot on the heels of a remarkable ‘Green surge’ that has seen the Party’s membership rise at an unprecedented rate and outstrip that of the Liberal Democrats and Ukip. The Green Party, which has polled on double digits twice this week, is polling at its highest levels ahead of a General Election for decades.

Notes: Natalie Bennett: everything you need to know about the Green Party leader? - Telegraph Follow Natalie Bennett (born February 10, 1966) became a household name earlier this year for all the wrong reasons. Now all eyes will be on her for the seven-way television debate. The former journalist and graduate of agricultural science was elected to the post in September 2012, taking over from the party’s first (and only) MP, Caroline Lucas . She has been a member since 2006, previously serving as its internal communications coordinator. Australian-born but living in London since 1999, she has been described as "the only party leader that knows how to shear a sheep". Also the only political leader with a background in science, she has campaigned on environmental issues, women’s rights, abortion, the rights of asylum-seekers and sex workers, and against child labour. She is a former trustee of the Fawcett Society, an influential equalities campaign group, and seeks a 40 per cent quota for women on company boards. Polls open in Mins Secs Until recently, she had not taken a major role on the UK political stage and has avoided major controversies.

Now, she is best-known for a disastrous radio interview which brought her and her party to the centre of national debate. The interview, which she later described frankly as “absolutely excruciating” , saw her unable to answer basic questions about Green housing policy in a seven-minute exchange on LBC Radio. Afterwards, she admitted to “mental brain fade”, leading some to sympathise with her honesty and others to lament her future as a convincing party leader. She now enters the television debates as an outsider, with Coral bookmakers placing her 11-1 to “win” the encounter. A recent appearance on Question Time led Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, to accuse her of being “patronising”. Bennett, who has 55,000 followers on Twitter and 11,000 Facebook likes, is standing in Holborn and St. Pancras in the 2015 General Election. Once described as “hedgehog obsessed”, she is said to have become enamoured with feminism when, aged five, she was told she could not ride a bicycle because it “wouldn’t be ladylike” .

When elected as party leader in 2012, having twice failed to secure a council seat in her home borough of Camden and missing out on the London Assembly, she declared she would promote a "radical and unique" agenda for improving people's lives in Britain. Election 2015: Seven-party TV debate plan announced - BBC News Election 2015: Seven-party TV debate plan announced 23 January 2015 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images Image caption There is the prospect of all seven party leaders appearing on the same stage during the election battle Broadcasters have published new plans for TV election debates including leaders of seven UK political parties. The BBC and ITV plan to stage debates involving the Conservatives, Labour, the Lib Dems, Green Party, UKIP, the SNP and Plaid Cymru. Sky and Channel 4's plan to host a head-to-head between Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband remains unchanged. The broadcasters said the debates would go ahead regardless of whether any party leader refused to take part.

Media captionThe Green Party leader Natalie Bennett says "It's time to move", while UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn says the format is "extremely cumbersome" "The party leaders will be formally invited to take part in these debates. In the event that any of the invited party leaders decline to participate, debates will take place with the party leaders who accept the invitation," they said in a joint statement. The BBC's chief political adviser Ric Bailey said the debates, set to last two hours each, would "go ahead" and the dates had been set. Political correspondent Iain Watson The broadcasters have gone out of their way - possibly at the expense of an engrossing spectacle for viewers - to accommodate Mr Cameron's stated desire to include the Greens in any line-up. With the SNP and Plaid Cymru also invited to take part, it's just possible this would be the least damaging option for David Cameron. Read Iain's full analysis The revised format comes after the broadcasters failed to reach agreement with the political parties over the original proposals, which only included the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and UKIP.

Labour, UKIP, the Green Party, the SNP and Plaid Cymru all welcomed the initiative although the Lib Dems expressed misgivings and the political parties in Northern Ireland have objected to being excluded. David Cameron had previously refused to take part unless the Green Party were included, saying "all national parties" should be represented - prompting a political row. The Conservative Party said the new proposals "would be considered as part of the ongoing debates process". 'Significant move' The broadcasters - BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky - said the proposed format takes into account representations from other political parties, polling and broad public opinion. The suggested schedule is for debates to be held on 2 April, 16 April and 30 April, ahead of the UK-wide poll on 7 May. The order of the debates is to be discussed with the political parties. What's changed? Broadcasters put forward initial proposals for live televised election debates in October 2014. They proposed a head-to-head encounter between Mr Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband, another including Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, and a third featuring the leaders of the Tories, Labour, Lib Dems and UKIP.

But in January, Mr Cameron objected to the Green Party not being included and said he would not take part - forcing a rethink from the broadcasters. Under the new proposals, issued on Friday: there would be two seven-way debates including representatives of the Conservative Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru one of these would be hosted by BBC, and the other by ITV a third debate would include a head-to-head between David Cameron and Ed Miliband, jointly hosted by Channel 4 and Sky all debates would be held in April, during the general election campaign. A Labour spokesman said the party would "debate anyone the broadcasters choose" and welcomed the proposal for the debates to be held during the official election campaign. "The broadcasters have obviously made a very significant move to adopt wholesale the prime minister's proposals and it is surely now not possible for him to maintain his opposition to participating in these debates. "We relish the opportunity for Ed Miliband to take on David Cameron directly in a head-to-head debate," they said. 'Time wasting' But the Lib Dems said they would insist on being represented in all three debates.

"We have always been in favour of TV debates and are committed to making them happen but want to continue discussing the most recently proposed format," a spokesman said. "We have always been clear that as a party of government, we must be able to defend our record in all the TV debates." UKIP's Patrick O'Flynn said the broadcasters had "bent over backwards" to accommodate Mr Cameron's debate conditions but he had still not said he would take part. The MEP told the BBC Mr Cameron was in "grave danger" of being seen as a "time waster" and someone who "has not got the courage of his convictions". "It is not a good look for a prime minister to be seen running scared," he said. Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, said the broadcasters' revised proposals acknowledged that we now are "in an age of multi-party politics". She told the BBC that the new proposals were "perfectly fair and reasonable" and those who disagreed should "simply get left out". 'Unacceptable' Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also welcomed the news, saying the case for inviting the SNP was "unanswerable".

"The broadcasters have rightly continued to monitor the electoral landscape, taking into account the polling evidence, and the expressions of public support for the debates to include a wider range of parties - reflecting the reality of our democracy and electoral choices in Scotland and elsewhere." But the proposals were met with dismay in Northern Ireland, where the DUP, Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party all said they should feature in some way. "What is not acceptable is a situation where the largest party in Northern Ireland is to be excluded while regional parties from Scotland and Wales, with fewer seats in Parliament than the DUP, are to be included," DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson wrote in a letter to the broadcasters. "The proposed decision is rightly seen as a further attempt by the broadcasters to marginalise Northern Ireland from the national debate." Respect MP George Galloway is also pressing to be included in the debate. Eastern Region Green Party | Leaders' Debates - Green Party statement Leaders' Debates - Green Party statement 23 January 2015 The Green Party has welcomed the broadcasters’ revised proposals for the Leaders’ Debates and looks forward to taking part in the Debates, which have the potential to fundamentally reshape British politics during the official election campaign and beyond.

By monitoring the “electoral landscape” and “taking into account … the expressions of public support for the debates to go ahead and for a wider range of parties to be included in the debates”, the broadcasters have recognised that the future of British politics does not need to look like the politics of the past. Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: “The decision to include the Greens in two debates is an acceptance by the broadcasters that we now are in an age of multi-party politics. “This groundbreaking decision serves the interests of both the electorate and British democracy. Our membership and polling surge demonstrates that when people hear about Green Party values and policies many embrace them. The political landscape is fracturing and fewer and fewer people want the business-as-usual politics offered by the traditional Westminster parties. This is the Green Spring. “The fresh proposals means that Green Party policies that can bring real change to Britain - from bringing the railways back into public hands to a £10 minimum wage by 2020 to zero university tuition fees – will now be heard far more widely. “The Green Party would like to thank everyone who contributed to the tremendous #InviteTheGreens campaign that I am sure had an impact on this outcome.

The lifeblood of the Green Party is its grassroots support and today’s decision is a recognition of all their tireless work and activism." The decision to include the Greens follows hot on the heels of a remarkable ‘Green surge’ that has seen the Party’s membership rise at an unprecedented rate and outstrip that of the Liberal Democrats and Ukip. The Green Party, which has polled on double digits twice this week with different pollsters, is polling at its highest levels ahead of a General Election for decades. The Green Party is committed to standing in at least 75% of seats which means that 50% more people will have the opportunity to vote Green on May 7th 2015 than were able to do so at the 2010 General Election. Election 2015: Green Party leader Natalie Bennett - BBC News BBC News Media playback is unsupported on your device Election 2015: Green Party leader Natalie Bennett 14 April 2015 Last updated at 13:48 BST The Green Party "is having a wonderful campaign" said its leader, who predicted more than one-in-20 people would vote for them at the general election.

Natalie Bennett was talking to Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics, where he asked her if she had become a liability for her party. Election 2015: Green leader Bennett sorry for 'excruciating' interview - BBC News BBC News Election 2015: Green leader Bennett sorry for 'excruciating' interview 25 February 2015 Close share panel Media captionListen to a clip of Natalie Bennett's radio interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has apologised to party members for what she said was a "very bad" radio interview about its housing policy. Ms Bennett said she had suffered a "mind blank" during the "excruciating" exchange, where she tried to explain how the party would fund a pledge of 500,000 new social rental homes. She was speaking as the Greens launched their election campaign. Other policies include a "citizen's income" of £72 a week for all adults. During an interview on LBC, Ms Bennett seemed to struggle to explain the funding model for the new homes, saying she had a "huge cold".

Later, speaking on the BBC's Daily Politics, she said a fully costed manifesto would be published in March. "I had a very bad interview on housing this morning," she said. "I am very happy to confess that and I am very sorry to the Green Party members who I did not do a very good job representing our policies on. "That happens, I am human." The policy would cost £27bn, she said (although she had earlier mistakenly said £2.7bn in the LBC interview) which would be partly funded by removing tax relief on mortgage interest for private landlords. 'Consultative costing' The Green Party of England and Wales has seen its membership surge to 54,000, as Ms Bennett has switched focus from its traditional environmental policies to talk about inequality and social justice. It has been recording similar levels of support to the Lib Dems in opinion polls and is fielding its largest ever slate of candidates, aiming to stand in 90% of parliamentary seats on 7 May. Replacing the existing benefits system with a "citizen's income" paid to everybody in the UK is a longstanding Green policy.

There was speculation that the policy was going to be dropped but in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Bennett confirmed it would be in the party's election manifesto. Image copyright PA Image caption The Green Party says it would build 500,000 social rented homes by 2020 She said it was not something the party would expect to introduce overnight "or even within the term of the next Parliament", adding: "It's something we want to consult on, offer over time." She added that she wanted to "move away from a system where so many people are living in fear of not being able to put food on the table, not being able to keep a roof over their head". Pressed on how the party would pay for the policy, she declined to say how much it would cost but said there would be a "consultative costing" in March. Ms Bennett is also campaigning for a 1% "wealth tax" on the property, pension pots and other assets such as "holdings in cash or Ferraris" of individuals worth more than £3m. Alliance talks Launching her party election themes, Ms Bennett said "something profound" was happening in British politics.

The key themes the Greens say they will focus on during the general election campaign are: Rebuilding the economy so everyone gets a fair share Putting the public at the heart of the NHS Ensuring everyone has a secure, affordable place to live Taking action on climate change Investing in a public transport system Ensuring every young person who wants to can access quality education The party currently has one MP at Westminster, Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion. It has held talks with the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru about forming a "progressive alliance" in the event of another hung parliament. Media captionNatalie Bennett: "The politics of hope is triumphing over the politics of fear" The Greens would make scrapping Britain's Trident nuclear weapons a key demand in any post-election negotiations with the Labour Party, in the event that Labour is the largest party. But Labour said "the election choice is between Labour and the Tories". Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth said: "A vote for the Green Party would increase the chances of the Tories remaining in Downing Street.

"When the Greens are put under any serious scrutiny their policies fall apart." Election 2015: David Cameron and Ed Miliband in TV debate row - BBC News BBC News Election 2015: David Cameron and Ed Miliband in TV debate row 14 January 2015 From the section UK Politics comments Read more about sharing. Close share panel Media captionEd Miliband quotes David Cameron from 2010 backing TV election debates, but the prime minister calls him a chicken David Cameron and Ed Miliband have accused each other of "running scared" over election TV debates, as they clashed at Prime Minister's Questions. Mr Miliband called the prime minister's refusal to take part unless the Green Party was involved a "pathetic excuse". He said he would debate with "anyone invited by the broadcasters". But Mr Cameron said the Labour leader was "chickening" out of facing the Greens and all "national parties" must be represented. The exchanges came after Mr Miliband , Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and UKIP leader Nigel Farage urged broadcasters to press ahead with televised debates before the 7 May poll even if Mr Cameron refuses to take part.

The three leaders have written to Mr Cameron saying it would be "unacceptable" for the prime minister to refuse to appear, saying an empty podium should be provided in his absence. 'No excuses' In response, the BBC, Sky News, ITV and Channel 4 said they "remain committed" to staging debates before the poll on 7 May. Raising the issue in Parliament, Mr Miliband said Mr Cameron had argued back in 2010 that it would be "feeble" for any party leader to walk away from the debates but was now threatening to do just that. Image copyright PA Analysis by political editor Nick Robinson A high stakes poker game in which the ultimate prize is power - that is what the row about TV leaders election debate has now become. The players at the table are not just the nation's party leaders but also the bosses of the country's biggest broadcasters. Watching and waiting are highly paid lawyers who know that this may end up being resolve by a judge and not by the court of public opinion. The question is - will anyone blink before it gets to the court-room?

Read more from Nick "It is not for him, it is not for me, it is not for any party leader to decide who is in the debate," he said. "It is up to the broadcasters, that is the country we live in. "I think he does protest too much. He has run out of excuses, he is running scared of these debates and in the words of his heroine Margaret Thatcher 'he is frit'". Media captionNatalie Bennett: "The debate won't fairly reflect British public opinion if UKIP is there and the Greens aren't" Mr Cameron said Mr Miliband wanted "to debate having a debate" because he did not want to talk about the economy and other issues. He said he was keen to defend his record during the campaign, suggesting he would support the idea of two debates, one a head-to-head encounter between him and Mr Miliband and another in which all "national parties" were represented. "The more time he and I can spend on television and in the television studio, the happier I will be," he said. But Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who was sitting next to the prime minister, was heard shouting "excuses, excuses" as Mr Cameron answered one of Mr Miliband's questions.

'Self-interest' In identical letters to Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband, Mr Clegg and Mr Farage called for a repeat of the 2010 debates - the first ever leaders' TV debates in a British election - and insisted they "not the property of the politicians". Media captionUKIP leader Nigel Farage: "In 2010 David Cameron did very badly in these debates" They wrote: "I believe it would be a major setback to our democratic processes if these debates were not repeated in 2015 because of one politician's unwillingness to participate." The added: "Therefore, if you are unwilling to reconsider, the three party leaders who have committed to participate will ask the broadcasters to press ahead with the debates and provide an empty podium should you have a last-minute change of heart." Under plans put forward by the BBC, Sky News, ITV and Channel 4 in October, the pre-election live TV debates would include the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and UKIP. Three debates Mr Cameron would take on Labour leader Mr Miliband head-to-head in one debate, another would feature Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband and Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg, and a third would also include UKIP's Mr Farage.

The suggested schedule is for debates on 2 April, 16 April and 30 April, ahead of the general election on 7 May. Media captionLabour election strategist Douglas Alexander: "There's a very important principle at stake' Mr Farage said the BBC would be "within its rights", under the terms of its editorial guidelines , to stage a debate without Mr Cameron and providing an empty podium would be "entirely appropriate". "If David Cameron chooses not to turn up that is his hard luck," he told the BBC News Channel. "My guess is that if the broadcasters hold firm, Mr Cameron will buckle and say yes." Lord Ashdown, who is leading the Lib Dems' general election campaign, urged broadcasters to "stick to their guns" or else he feared the impetus for the debates would "ebb away".

He told Sky News: "You just can't let the prime minister or anybody else basically hold the country and our democracy to ransom by saying no." Media captionLord Ashdown: David Cameron "shouldn't be allowed to get away with it" But Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said she backed Mr Cameron's stance and said it was in the interest of the three other leaders to help persuade broadcasters that her party should be included in one of the debates. Ms Bennett said ITV had not yet made a final decision and she hoped to hold talks with the broadcaster in the near future. "Staging the debates without the prime minister might score a point but would not serve the public, who rightly expect the political parties and the broadcasters to find a format that is acceptable to all concerned," she wrote in a letter to the trio. "If you indicated that you were open to the inclusion of the Greens, then I feel sure that ITV would respond." 'Good test' John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said that having "nailed his colours to the mast" over the Green Party's participation, it would be difficult for Mr Cameron to shun the debates if they were invited.

The three debates in 2010 were watched by a total of 22 million people, and they have been cited as one reason for the increase in turnout at the election, which rose for the first time since 1992. While the debates were a "good test of political leadership", Prof Curtice told the BBC that they had dominated the campaign and "not necessarily succeeded in reaching out to more marginal voters". Media captionNicola Sturgeon: "To exclude Scotland's largest party and the UK's third largest party would not pass the most basic of democratic tests" The SNP and Plaid Cymru, which have more seats in Parliament than either UKIP or the Green Party, also say they should be represented in any series of debates. SNP deputy leader Stuart Hosie said: "The idea that the SNP, bigger than UKIP and the Lib Dems combined in terms of membership, should be excluded from debates which are broadcast into people's homes in Scotland is just simply quite unacceptable." In a statement, the four broadcasters said: "The debates played an important role in informing millions of our viewers in 2010 and we will continue to work with all the parties to ensure that they happen again in 2015".

The Guardian, Daily Telegraph and YouTube are proposing a separate digital debate, which they suggest could reach up to 55 million internet users. They have invited the Greens, UKIP, the Lib Dems, Labour and the Conservatives to take part. The Green surge: is this the party that will decide the election? | Politics | The Guardian Green party The Green surge: is this the party that will decide the election? The Green party is not just riding high in the opinion polls – it has signed up 13,000 new members in one week. If it keeps growing at this rate, it will be bigger than Labour by May. Is it really on the verge of a breakthrough? Green leader Natalie Bennett, with the party’s new campaign poster Photograph: Steve Back / Barcroft Media Wednesday 21 January 2015 14.10 EST Last modified on Friday 7 October 2016 05.19 EDT Share on Messenger Close Olivia Cropper is a 34-year‑old mother of one who lives in Hove, and works in the complaints department of one of the big banks.

“I’m not particularly leftwing,” she says, and she is probably right: up until 2010, she tended to vote for the Liberal Democrats . Last Thursday, she filled in an online membership form, handed over £31 and joined the Green party , chiefly thanks to a nagging sense of injustice. “I read something – I think it was on Twitter – about how Green membership was increasing exponentially, day by day,” she tells me, “and how the total Green membership was now bigger than Ukip’s, and that would be significant when people were deciding who was going to be included in the TV election debates. I thought, ‘If I can add my name to that, it’ll add even more weight to that argument.’ The Greens are more popular now than the Lib Dems, and if a small party like Ukip is going to get in on the act, I think they should too.” The faintest trace of anger ripples down the phone, as she mentions the respective leaders of the two parties. “I hate the idea of Nigel Farage standing up there, and not Natalie Bennett,” she says.

“If you let him in, you should let the Greens in, too.” I remind her that Brighton and Hove is ruled by a Green party administration that has been at the centre of no end of controversy, not least when it comes to rubbish. “The bins have been awful,” she acknowledges, “but my understanding is that they’ve made some tough decisions. “I really like the fact that the Greens aren’t affiliated with any big companies, or any big donors,” she continues. “I like the fact that they stand up for things that are important. Like, I don’t think we should have privatised railways: that’s something that really matters.” She mentions the noise made about that issue, and others, by Caroline Lucas , the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion. “It’s the same with No More Page 3, and all the stuff she did on that. I think that’s brilliant.” In the next few weeks, she says, her time will be taken up by the birth of her second child but, come the election, she fancies helping the Brighton Greens with some leafleting, at least. Olivia is not alone.

She is one of 13,274 people who joined the Green Party of England and Wales in the last week, taking its total membership – which excludes independent Green parties in Scotland and Northern Ireland – to more than 46,000. The Lib Dems, by comparison, have 44,526 members; Ukip, 41,943. If the Greens’ growth rate were to continue, they would overtake the Tories (on around 134,000 members) toward the middle of March, and Labour (190,000) by the general election. In standard political conditions, I would now express doubt about whether either of those scenarios will come to pass, but these days, you never know. What the Greens’ membership surge illustrates, after all, is a new kind of politics, largely driven by social media, in which unforeseen developments can take shape at lightning speed, in complete defiance of the usual rules. Membership of political parties has long been in supposedly terminal decline; the fact that only 1% of the UK population are currently members of the big three parties is routinely held up as proof that party activism is now confined to the fringes of society.

But of late, there have been signs of something different, not least in Scotland. Since the referendum, politics there has been aflame: membership of the Scottish National party has climbed to nearly 100,000, one in four 16- and 17-year-olds have joined a political party, and the Scottish Greens have quadrupled their membership to nearly 10,000. Now, perhaps, England and Wales are experiencing their own political reawakening, with unsettling consequences for the so‑called “main” parties. Pinterest Caroline Lucas leafleting in her Brighton constituency. Photograph: David McHugh/Rex Features In the case of the Greens, the immediate causes are obvious enough. Late last year, nearly 300,000 people signed the petition protesting against their exclusion from the big broadcasters’ planned TV debates, and the party announced that membership had jumped up 57%, to 22,000. Last week, the broadcasting regulator Ofcom once again put jump leads on the Greens’ membership, when it announced a draft ruling on which parties would be granted “major party status” at the general election, and given “due weight” in TV and radio coverage.

As usual, the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems were ruled in, but so were Ukip, thanks to what Ofcom called the “significant support” it had won in recent local and European elections. The Greens, by contrast, were left out in the cold: they had apparently “not demonstrated significant past electoral support in general elections”. At that point, the latest instalment of the so-called “Green surge” began. With a newly discovered mischievous wit, the Greens are turning exclusion from the debates to their advantage: this week, they launched a poster campaign built around an image of Lucas and Bennett, and the tag-line: “What are you afraid of, boys?” This approach seems to be doing the trick: in the latest poll commissioned by the free-floating Tory bigwig Michael Ashcroft , the Greens were on 11%, two percentage points ahead of the Lib Dems, and only four behind Ukip. A Guardian/ICM poll this week put them at 9% – still a 20-year high . Dig deeper, and the sense of a significant change only increases.

Earlier this month, YouGov estimated support for the Greens among those aged 18 to 24 at 22%, putting them in joint second place with the Tories. So, in some quarters, anticipation of a genuine breakthrough is rising. A Green party member and crowdfunding specialist named Jonathan May has set up the website illvotegreenifyoudo.com , which aims to maximise Green votes at the election by asking its users to solemnly pledge their support in the hope that others will be encouraged to do the same. Meanwhile, party insiders are talking up their prospects in a number of seats, most of which will not yield a Green victory, but could play a role in hugely increasing their total vote. The whole story, it seems, is built on a glorious irony: that exclusion from the rituals of mainstream politics seems to be doing the Greens a favour.

It’s a point echoed by Jenny Jones (Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb), a party member since 1988, who was elected to the London Assembly, became the Greens’ first member of the House of Lords, and in 2010, was the Green candidate in Camberwell and Peckham, where she got 1,361 votes to Harriet Harman’s 27,619. Ofcom’s decision to deny the Greens “major party” status, she says, represented “pure delight, as far as we’re concerned. They made us the story, and it enraged people.” The Tories have also been helpful. “Dear old Cameron, God bless his cotton socks, said we should be in the debates, and put all the Tory bloggers – and the Sun – on our side! It’s made all the difference for us.” She also mentions Ukip. “For every person who’s attracted to Ukip, there are probably several more who’ve started to look for an antidote.

The Green party comes across as just that: a much more liberal, much more human sort of political party.” Beyond Cameron’s chicanery and the malign qualities of Nigel Farage, there are obviously deeper factors at work. One is policy, and the essential values that underlay it. The increasingly popular website voteforpolicies.org.uk – which matches users to political parties based on the mix of policies they agree with – is reporting that 27.4% of respondents are coming up as Green, more than for any other party. As well as their time-honoured messages about climate change and the environment, the Greens are clearly attracting support thanks to their opposition to austerity, and their stances on traditionally leftwing issues. They want the minimum wage to rise to £10 an hour by 2020, they advocate the renationalisation of the railways, and they have long believed in the so‑called “basic income” – effectively, the reinvention of the benefits system, so that most people automatically receive just over £70 a week, irrespective of their paid work.

This latter proposal is the kind of thing that tends to make rightwing pundits froth about the Greens’ supposed eccentricity and “extremism” – along with policies including the decriminalisation of drug possession and the abolition of zoos “except where they are for the benefit of the animal concerned” – but it is actually an increasingly talked-about idea, aimed at the chronic insecurity of modern employment. Pinterest Jenny Jones, Green party London Assembly member. Photograph: Mark Kerrison/Demotix/Corbi Across Europe, we are in an age of changing political currents. The nascent Spanish party Podemos is topping opinion polls, the new Greek party of the left, Syriza, is on the verge of forming a government, and on the far right the resurgent French Front National and Germany’s new anti-Islamic group Pegida are making headlines. With the great social blocs that once underlay politics broken up by deindustrialisation, and the online world allowing people to flip between political identities on a whim, politics will surely continue to fragment and rapidly change.

It may be a cliche, but it fits: the rise of the SNP, Ukip and the Greens represents the “new normal”, and the established parties are still unsure about how to react. The Tories clearly want to use the Greens’ popularity to balance out their problems with Ukip – as evidenced by Cameron’s cynical insistence that Natalie Bennett should be included in the leaders’ debates. Meanwhile, Labour is experiencing rising anxiety about the profile of its new rival. When I interviewed Labour campaign chief Lucy Powell last week, it was telling that in among the usual stuff about Ed Miliband’s beloved cost-of-living crisis, she promised that he would be a “green prime minister”. Last year, Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, was given the job of heading up Labour’s anti-Green “unit”, and trying to hammer home the well-worn warning that “every vote for the Green Party only makes it one vote easier for the Conservatives to win the election”. But the Green surge also contains dangers for the party – not least, the huge sense of anti-climax that will presumably grip its new recruits the day after the election.

The electoral system is as stacked against the party as ever: Caroline Lucas faces a fight in Brighton Pavilion, and the party only has a realistic chance in two other seats – Norwich South and Bristol West (where, their candidate Darren Hall tells me, “the obvious change lately is that people are no longer saying, ‘You can’t win’ – that’s a big shift”). Elsewhere, in such supposedly promising seats as Sheffield Central, Oxford East, Liverpool Riverside and Cambridge, even if thousands of new Green recruits pound the streets between now and the early summer, their efforts will probably not lead to any victories – proof of the cruelty and stupidity of the first-past-the-post system, perhaps, but there we are. “Such high hopes, and then nothing comes of it – that’ll be very hard for some people to handle,” says Jenny Jones. “A lot of people who haven’t been involved in politics think it’s easy: you just have to get lots of votes. And that’s absolutely right, but getting those votes is really hard. It takes years of slogging around.” So apart from anything else, the Greens are faced with quite a job of expectations management? “Oh my God, yes. Absolutely.

And not just expectations management, but giving people enough to do. That’s not easy.” She also talks about the fact that the Greens are a creditably democratic set-up, in which “individuals can influence our policy”, without the top-down management common to bigger parties. The surge, then, “could change the party. If all these new members organise themselves in a coherent way, it could make a big difference.” To the Greens’ political direction? “Well, I think we’re incredibly idealistic. Even when we’re elected, we tend to be idealistic. We have a practical idealism. But we’re probably getting in loads of other people from other political parties, who are used to – perhaps, I’m only guessing – a bit more compromise. There might be pressure on us to be a bit less pure. It might be the route to being a major party in Britain; it might be the way that you get on. But a lot of us old-timers might find that painful.” Talking to the Greens’ new recruits, any tensions or nuances tend to get swept aside by an infectious enthusiasm.

Megan Turner, for example, is a 20-year-old geography undergraduate at Manchester University, who joined the party on Tuesday, at the student rate of £5 a year – partly, she says because of “the debate thing”, but also thanks to deeper convictions. In some senses, she is a traditional Green. “I consider myself an environmentalist,” she says, “and I think their policies are the most realistic, if you think about it. It makes economic sense to protect the environment, more than destroy it.” But she also voices her approval of what the Greens have to say about the state of society: “They’re a party for the people. They obviously want a more equal society.” What of Labour, and its new claims to be as “radical” and “bold” as most Green voters? “To be honest, I don’t feel like Labour are really that invested in making a fairer society and actually listening to the public,” she says. She mentions the Iraq war, and the damage it did to Labour’s left-leaning, humanitarian credentials. “I don’t think you can really recover from something like that very quickly, and expect people to believe what you say.

And I know the electoral system doesn’t favour smaller parties, but the only way we’re going to force any sort of change through is to vote for what we believe in.” She must know the argument, though: that voting Green risks letting in the Tories. “That’s quite a pessimistic and narrow-minded view, I think. I talk about politics quite a lot on Facebook, and you get more optimistic people, who want parties they can believe in. There are obviously people who have a very cynical view, that there’s only ever going to be two parties. But systems and power dynamics change, quicker than people think.” Here is the simple conviction at the core of the Green surge. “The only way that’ll happen,” she says, “is if we vote for different people.” • This article was amended on 26 January 2015 to correct the name of the Green party activist Jonathan May. Ex-cabinet minister’s proposals to tackle inequality include an effective tax rate of 62% on higher earners, a graduate tax and a financial transactions levy Published: 22 Jan 2015

Question: As at January 2015 who is the leader of the Green Party in the UK?
Answer: Natalie Bennett